Notices by DC Books to Prisons (dcbookstoprisons@bookstodon.com)

Do you ever wish you could do three good deeds at once? Good news: You can! If you buy a book from either of our independent bookstore wishlists between now and May 5th, 2025, 3 good things will happen:

1. An incarcerated reader will receive a book.

2. Your gift will be matched by a generous donor (for a maximum of
$1,000 per wishlist).

3. You will support independent bookstores.

List 1: https://politics-prose.com/wishlist/rocliswawresp

List 2: https://bookshop.org/wishlists/a641ac4a61f8bc1f8a0da919f50c47ed25c4abfa

#IndieBookstoreDay #IndependentBookstoreDay

We serve incarcerated readers in 35 US states. Fortunately, there are other #prison book programs sending #books to people in the 15 states we lack the resources to serve.

One of those programs, Books to Prisoners Seattle, has a partnership with the wonderful people at @outsidercomics who help them get comic books that comply with prisons' arcane rules. Read Outsider Comics' fascinating account of how they select #comics and #manga for incarcerated people:

https://outsidercomics.com/how-do-we-select-comics-for-donation-to-books-to-prisoners/

#censorship

An article in #TheGuardian describes the impact that books had on Malcolm X while he was in prison:

"He transformed his mind completely.... In prison libraries – even in the desperate squalor of Charlestown, where he picked up Shakespeare and Melville – Malcolm read novelists, poets, philosophers and religious thinkers. He proved a natural reader..."

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/dec/07/malcolm-x-patrick-parr-new-book

#prison #books #library #reading

Some jails allow book shipments from Amazon and big-box chains, while denying book shipments from independent bookstores. Now, an independent bookstore, Avid Bookshop, has filed a lawsuit alleging that this is unconstitutional.

https://flagpole.com/featured/2024/03/19/avid-bookshop-sues-gwinnett-jail-over-refusal-to-accept-book-shipments/

#jail #censorship #books #FirstAmendment #FourteenthAmendment #AvidBookshop

We send books only to people incarcerated in the United States. Fortunately, there are similar groups in other countries. This article describes a group collecting books for prisoners in Manitoba, Canada. (Unlike us, the group provides books only to prison libraries. We mostly serve individuals behind bars, although we also send books to prison libraries from time to time.)

https://www.chvnradio.com/articles/book-drive-helps-raise-funds-for-prison-libraries-committee-and-bar-none

#Books #Prisons #Manitoba